Las Vegas Valley Water District approves pool size restrictions to help conservation

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - The Las Vegas Valley Water District has approved a new rule to limit pool sizes for newly built pools. Pools will be limited to 600 square feet.

The new size limit still makes for a large pool. The average pool size in the Las Vegas Valley is about 470 square feet.

Pool building told the water district that restricting new pool sized is not going to have an impact on Lake Mead.

“What is proposed before you today is not a real solution,” one person said.

“Our industry is being unfairly targeted because its easy to show pictures of lavish swimming pools saying ‘That’s the problem,’” another said.

Water district general manager John Entsminger said we are at the stage now where every drop of water counts in the southwest.

“Nobody questions building codes to survive hurricanes in South Florida. Nobody questions building codes for earthquakes in San Francisco. Waster scarcity is our natural disaster,” Entsminger said.

Board director Justin Jones agreed.

" I understand there are people who don’t love this proposal but we are where we are. There are only so many things we can do to reduce our water consumption. And this is a little one,” Jones said.

During the session, director Ross Miller was open to delaying a vote on the matter, but in the end voted with the other directors to implement the new code.

Bronson Mack with the Southern Nevada Water Authority said it’s not that they don’t want pools to be built. The authority wants people to be reasonable at a time when we are facing a severe water crisis.

“We’re really looking ay being able to continue to allow functional pool sizes to be developed throughout the valley in a in a water efficient way,” Mack said.

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